Jeffrey Harlan
How do you edit your work?

We talk a lot about the "magic" of writing, but the real work happens in the revision. Whether you’re fixing continuity errors in a superhero saga or tightening the pacing in a horror story, the method matters.

Do you rely on track changes, printed manuscripts, or a specific software stack? I’m looking for raw, unfiltered workflows from other writers. What’s your go-to strategy for self-editing?

#WritingCommunity #SelfEditing #Authors
Apr 14 at 5:00pmWeb
Show threaddavecb 🇨🇦Apr 14

@Harlander I'm a nerd, writing non-fiction, so I keep my writing in the same fine-grained revision-control system that I use for my programs.

If I accidentally hammer a paragraph, or take it out and decide I want it back, there it is.

For the actual editing, first I depend on my wife, who is a good editor, and then an LLM to find grammar bugs.

Finally I keep it out of my sight for at least a week, often two. Then I can see what I was too close to see before.

But!
I also have a secret weapon: I have a friend who trained in science communication. He does a developmental-edit on my work, and finds all the stuff that is either too nerd, or that is poorly organized